Man sentenced for pursuit

XENIA — A Greene County man was recently sentenced to five years in prison for a brief police pursuit in Yellow Springs in March. Michael Williams, 28, was sentenced in Greene County Common Pleas Court under the supervision of Judge Michael Buckwalter May 27 after pleading guilty to three charges.

Williams pleaded guilty to third-degree felony failure to comply with an order or signal of a police officer, third-degree felony having weapons while under disability and third-degree felony intimidation of a witness.

According to police information, on March 13 a Yellow Springs police officer attempted to pull Williams over for a burned-out light on the vehicle he was driving and instead of stopping, Williams left the area driving “in excess of 70, 80 miles an hour” in the village. The officer followed at a distance, and according to police, the pursuit lasted between 60 and 90 seconds.

The vehicle crashed and Williams fled on foot before being arrested, according to police, leaving behind two passengers in the car. Police found marijuana packaged for sale and an open container of vodka in the vehicle.

According to police, Williams was on parole and had a warrant out for his arrest for a parole violation.

Williams was also sentenced in Greene County Common Pleas Court for crimes in 2006 (one year for fifth-degree felony possession of controlled substances, fifth-degree felony possession of criminal tools and fourth-degree felony aggravated assault) and in 2007 (five years for first-degree felony aggravated robbery and third-degree felony having weapons while under disability).

Requests for comment from Williams’ attorney were not returned by press time.